Dolly Parton Inspires A Painting

Two years ago Dolly Parton did me a huge favor.  She doesn't know it yet, but I'm so grateful for her kindness that I painted a portrait of her and will give the painting to Dolly (via a mutual friend) later this month.

This is a true story inspired by her and the people she changed through her incredible heart.

In 2004 I met a man who would change my life forever.  This man's name was Alex.  He was six feet tall, 31 years old and had brain damage caused by a car accident when he was only a senior in high school.

Nearly everyday for two years I went to his home and spent time with him and his family.  Every morning we went to the mall and walked for exercise, then we would have a snack, go home and have lunch, watch TV, take a nap and play games til the sun went down.  This routine happened everyday and it wasn't long before Alex and I became best friends.

Alex loved Dolly Parton.  He talked about her every day for as long as I've known him. Even though his accident took away many of the abilities we all take for granted, it never took away his ability to love.  He brought joy to everyone around him and I've never stopped thinking about how our relationship changed my life.

So every birthday, every Christmas and every Valentines Day I send Alex a gift.  It just so happened when his birthday was coming up two years ago, I was introduced to Dolly's personal artist.

I knew it was a stretch, but I had to try.  I asked her to get me an autographed picture from Dolly to Alex wishing him a Happy Birthday. Then about a month later she brought me a packet including a personalized autographed picture (below), with CDs and all kinds of other merchandise.  I knew at that moment God had answered my prayers.

Sending Alex such an incredible gift was one of my proudest moments and is why I felt so inspired to paint Dolly a portrait.  I know it isn't much, but when I have a chance to share with someone how they have touched my life, I take it!

Sometimes people never know how they affect other's lives, but if we all just shared our stories to lift up the people that mean the most to us, then what more could you ask for?

In my artist statement it says, "My pieces reflect my own inner joy and my intention for my artwork is to cultivate joy in others."  That's what it's all about really and hopefully I've accomplished that one more time.

Dolly, 16 x 20, Mixed Media

Sneak Peek: Tomato Art Fest 2011

The Tomato Art Festival is almost here and we're all dying to see what the local community of artists have cooked up this year.

There is nothing quite like the moment when you walk in through the front doors at Art and Invention Gallery and see the walls covered from floor-to-ceiling with tomato art.  It jolts with you a shot of energy and fills your heart with joy that only the Tomato Art Festival can create.  That's exactly why it's been voted "Best Art Festival" 4 years in a row by the readers of the Nashville Scene.

I wanted to feature a few paintings that will be in the show to satisfy your taste buds with a little savory tomato flavor.  The following artists range from professional to hobbyist, but they all have a passion for everything tomato.

To see the paintings live come out to the festival on Saturday, August 13th for a day full of fun.  There will be contests, live music, friends and family that will welcome you into the streets of Five Points in East Nashville for a day unlike any other.  For more information go straight to the source for all details and more artwork at www.tomatoartfest.com.

Waiting by Andy Detwiler

Untitled by Randy Purcell

Watercolor Art by Taylor Branam

Mosaic Heart by Hosanna Banks

Tomato on a Guitar Vine by Beth Inglish

Tomato Gravy by Andy Detwiler

Tortured Tomato by Randy Purcell

Custom Artwork for The Daytripper in Austin, TX

This past week I sent a new piece of custom artwork to The Daytripper in Austin, TX. Chet Garner is the creator and host of The Daytripper, an amazing Texas travel show on PBS and a longtime family friend.

Our two families grew up together in Church and on the campground beginning when I was just 4 years old. We've traveled all over the U.S. from the Smoky Mountains to the Rocky Mountains, so when Chet requested a Texas-size binglish art piece of the Austin skyline I had to create something great!

Before becoming The Daytripper, Chet used to be an entertainment lawyer, so he is the mastermind responsible for getting my brand name, binglish, trademarked and registered with the federal government. Instead of sending me a giant lawyer bill we agreed that a custom painting would be a much better form of payment.

"Austin, TX" was created from photographs Chet took of the buildings downtown, with acrylic paint and special tea-dyed paper that frames the outside rim of the piece. My favorite part was creating the energy in the sky with my paintbrush and different hues of blue. Austin is such an incredible city with so much energy, I needed to get that somehow into the piece.

Last night @ChetTripper tweeted, "My first original painting and my new favorite painting of all time courtesy of @bethinglish. This is talent." It feels so great to have another happy customer!

Creating custom art is one of my favorite things to do! I even wrote a blog article about that you can read here.  So if you would like a custom art piece please email me at beth@binglishART.com and I'll get started on it right away.

Austin, TX 36 x 18 Mixed Media

Art You'll Love in Austin, Texas

A couple of weekends ago I visited my other favorite music town -- Austin, Texas for my college roommate's romantic Hill Country wedding at Villa Antonia.  Love was in the air, in the water and even spray painted on the walls.

For Katy and Josh's wedding gift, I painted a portrait of the super sexy couple from one of their engagement photos taken by Whitney Runyon Photography.  Whitney's photography is fantastic and the photos were taken in some of Austin's coolest urban scenes.  She incorporated street art into the couple's session and the photos turned out beautifully, which is why I was so inspired to paint!

My favorite Austin street art, "I love you so much" and "Hi, how are you" didn't make it into the wedding album, but they are posted below and I must say I'm crazy about them!! These word art messages just make you feel good and I like to think they are little messages from God reminding us of love and kindness.  I know others agree too because when the city wanted to paint over them the people fought and won to keep them around!  Now that's something special.

Photos by Whitney Runyon Photography

Don't forget to tell someone today, "I love you so much" by sharing this artwork.  Thanks for reading, leave a comment and subscribe to The Music Inspired Blog!

Live Painting in Nashville - Before & After Pictures & Video

In April 2011 the Nashville Opera invited me to paint live during their performance of Carmen at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Downtown Nashville.  I painted two separate pieces of art during their Thursday and Saturday performance and both sold the night of each event by silent auction.

To prepare for this amazing opportunity I attended the opera's first full dress rehearsal, held days before the actual performance and snapped photographs of the cast during different scenes throughout the performance.  I chose a two photos that captured the intensity of the love between the two main characters and I painted live from those photographs.

Below are the before and after photos of the artwork I created and a video of my painting live during the Saturday performance.  It was an incredible experience that I'll never forget.  I was able to do what I love surrounded by people who were interested and appreciated the artwork.  If you would like me to paint live at your next event please email me at beth@binglishART.com.

Please share with anyone you might know that would need a live painter and leave a comment to tell me what you think!

Before & After

Before & After

New Exhibit at Dunn Bros Downtown Nashville

Lately I've been getting more and more excited about street art the further I dive into this new genre. Blank walls are starting to appear out of nowhere and my urge to create for the streets continues to grow stronger. New opportunities are everywhere I look, so I feel completely sure that this is the path I should take with my art.

The good news is last week I created and installed eight new pieces of semi-street art at Dunn Bros Coffee in Downtown Nashville. I'm referring to it as "semi" because this is just the first step for me, it's not out on the streets yet. The mixed media pieces feature a few songwriter friends of mine playing their guitars. The images were pasted onto wood panels to reflect the rawness of how it would appear on the street. These panels are just a sample of what will start appearing this upcoming Spring.

So if you're downtown in the next couple of months head over the 4th and Church and stop into Dunn Bros to see the exhibit!

If you would like to participate in this project please contact me at beth@binglishART.com. I am currently scheduling photo shoots with musicians and songwriters and appointments with local business and neighborhood associations.

Street Art in Nashville Tennessee

For the past couple of months the idea of "street art" has been coming at me from all different directions.  I never set out to create it, but it continues to cross my path.  So I've finally wised up and started paying attention.

It all started when I saw the Bansky film, "Exit Through The Gift Shop".  It is described as "the inside story of Street Art - a brutal and revealing account of what happens when fame, money and vandalism collide."

If you haven't seen this movie, then I highly recommend you watch it.  I can honestly say as an artist it changed my life.  It made me look at art and artists in a whole new light. 

I started asking myself the hard kind of questions like why do I make art and what is it's purpose?

Then the very next day after I saw movie a gallery director and friend of mine posted an article about the street art movement in Houston, TX.  It's incredible what artists are doing in the larger cities around the US.  I know nothing like that is going on in Nashville and if we're really serious about being put on the map as an "arts town" I think we need street art.  So I decided to start a movement here, but legally.  Nashvillians just aren't the type to vandalize, but we do come together for the greater good and that's the angle I'm working.

Here's the idea.  As an aspiring singer/songwriter and artist in Nashville it's pretty clear after three years living here that we are hanging around every corner.  So why not capture that with art?  My idea is to use the street art technique of wheatpasting and literally paste graphic images of people playing guitar on the sides of buildings.  It's as simple as that.

I want to bring this community of people together and show through art that our dedication to music and this very difficult career path is being honored and appreciated.  The hard part will be getting permission from property owners, but so far I've already had success and permission granted from the few people I've approached.

The next step will be creating the images.  I've already started photographing guitar players and creating the graphics for the art.  I'm kicking off this project with a small show at Dunn Bros Coffee in downtown Nashville during March and April.  The exhibit will have miniature indoor versions of the art I plan on installing around town.

If you would like to get involved in this project in anyway please contact me at beth@binglishART.com and share your ideas.  I am currently scheduling photo shoots and setting up appointments with local business before the first piece is pasted.

Nashville Guitar Artwork Raises Money For Musicians

Ok fearless followers and share warriors I need your help!  The artwork I created for Retune Nashville, After The Flood, 40x40 is up for auction during the month of February -- and the whole world needs to know about it!

The starting bid is $400 and that is ridiculous!  The art was made with priceless guitars donated from famous Nashville musician (Brent Mason) who lost his guitars to the Nashville Flood of 2010.

There is also a real playable guitar built into the piece and those materials cost $$$. There are Grover banjo tuning pegs, Epiphone Les Paul pick up, Fender Stratocaster volume knob, Danelectro Mini Honeycomb amp, acoustic bridge pins and countless hours of labor!

Do you want to know the BEST part?  All the money raised goes to help out Nashville musicians.  That is crazy GOOD!

So please go to the website RetuneNashville.org and share share share!  The point is to get as many people bidding as possible so that this priceless and memorable piece of work raises lots of money for the cause it was created for.  Watch and listen to the art play music on my YouTube Channel and share that video too! Click here for the video and thank you for sharing!

Custom Created Art in Nashville Tennessee

One of my favorite things to do is create custom art. From beginning to end I think about the person I'm making it for and how I can give them art that's truly authentic.  I ask myself,

"What would they like and what do I see?"

Recently, I had the pleasure to create a Christmas present painting for Country Music star, Deana Carter.  Above all other paintings, this one was my favorite because I connected with it on a very personal level.  Using a photograph of Deana and her Dad, Fred Carter, I had to make the painting look like the picture, but not be an exact portrait. (below)

Deana and her Dad had a very special bond through music.  She pursued the music industry in Nashville because of him.  Fred Carter was the premier guitar player in Nashville in the 1960s and recorded with Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Dylan and Joan Boez to name a few.  I connected with this story because I have a very similar bond with my Dad through music.

I paint and write about everything music because growing up my Dad always had a guitar in his hand.  He continues to inspire everything I do.  I understood their father/daughter bond through music and put that energy into the painting.

That experience is a perfect example of why I love making art for other people.  Connecting with others is one of life's greatest gifts.

If you would like to join the others who own a custom artwork, please email with your questions at beth@binglishART.com.

Retune Nashville: Behind The Art (Part 5)

It's done. Turned in and ready to go! I'm sad to let this piece go because it was so much fun and I worked really hard on it. When I turned it in I had to also write a story of how I was inspired, so I wrote it about you!

The city of Nashville was my inspiration for this piece. During the first three days of the flood it was evident that Nashville was an amazing community when the entire town came together immediately without hesitation. Since I’m not originally from Nashville, that outpouring of love was completely new to me.

I was so consumed with that love I became obsessed with the flood. For hours I would watch the news and I also collected photographs and articles from the local newspapers and magazines. I used those clippings as my background for the piece to tell the story of the flood and how we got through it together. I wanted the piece to look "flooded" so I used the donated guitar pieces "as is" to exhibit how the flood waters left them.

I wanted the artwork to be interactive as well so I installed a playable guitar on the bottom of the piece. This feature brings the audience in so close to the background that the pictures from that perspective stir up emotions that we were all feeling during the beginning of May. The playable art guitar also reminds us that even after the flood the music still goes on. So turn on the amp, pick up the slide and Retune Nashville!

Retune Nashville: Behind The Art (Part 4)

Last weekend I spent many hours wondering around the hardware aisle at Home Depot, using power tools and sweeping sawdust. I must say I haven't spent much time in my life at hardware stores, but now I'm feeling pretty proficient at picking out bolts and nuts.

My Retune Nashville project is right on schedule and I'm about 85% finished. I finished the collage, drilled all the holes, installed the bolts and am ready to build the guitar.

My favorite part of the project was drilling through the different types of wood on the guitar necks. First the dust was black from the Ebony, then light brown, then dark brown. It was so cool watching the different colors of wood being spit out from the drill. It's pretty amazing what goes into building an actual guitar, I'm so lucky to have the chance to take one apart.

My next favorite part of the plan was suspending the pieces of guitar on the board. It really started to come together when I could see all the different levels and the sculpture coming to life. I kept standing back, looking at it and thinking, wow this thing is so cool.

Last I am going to install the guitar strings, pick up, amp and all the little details that will make this project complete. In just a few days this art piece is going to start singing the blues and I can't wait to hear it, video it and share with you. Wish me luck!

DRILLING

BUILDING
LOVING

Retune Nashville, October 23rd, Soundcheck Studios
http://www.retunenashville.org/
Tickets now on sale!

Retune Nashville: Behind The Art (Part 3)

Drip drip drip goes the paint down the board. I posted that quote on my facebook last Wednesday because it perfectly describes what I witnessed every night last week.

I poured paint down my Retune Nashville wooden panel on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday each 3x a day. It looks really great and is exactly what I pictured in my mind. Below is a video I made documenting the project's process:

I got the idea to make a video from the Retune Nashville videographer, Jimmy Stratton. He has been making, Retune Minute, short videos about multiple artist participating in the show. His video skills blow mine out of the water, so I'm loving it! I watched my minute for the first time this morning and thought, what a gift from God and suddenly became very thankful for everything in my life. So I really hope you enjoy it!



Graciously, Jimmy is coming by again this afternoon to record me working on my project. I will be drilling holes and installing broken guitar pieces on the panel. First I have to make a quick trip to Home Depot!

Tickets for the art show are now on sale at http://www.retunenashville.org/. Thanks for watching and stay tuned for the next video in a couple weeks. Have a great Sunday!

Retune Nashville: Behind The Art (Part 2)

Wow what a great weekend! I worked on my Retune Nashville project all day Saturday and Sunday and am right on schedule. It's a good thing I wrote my plan out last Friday, because otherwise I don't think I would have accomplished so much.

My number one goal was to have fun and simplify so that's exactly what I did. I took it step-by-step and didn't get ahead of myself. After I finished building/priming my wooden panel I started practicing with my bleaching techniques. THEY DID NOT WORK, so I had to go with Plan B.

To accomplish the look I envisioned, I decided to use white paint diluted with water and then sprayed with alcohol. I practiced a few techniques and below are my results. I am going to go with a combination of the paint drips and the paint reacting with the alcohol to achieve a watery/wet effect.

Before I can apply the watery paint illusions I have start on the collage. First, I laid out my newsprint articles and music papers. Then I laid the guitar sculpture over it to see where I should position my favorite newspaper clippings. Next, I traced out the design of the guitar pieces before collaging. Then, I glued the music paper and newspaper articles strategically in the places where they would not be covered by the guitar pieces. Last, I applied my first coat of white paint. That is where I stopped last night.

This week I am going to apply more layers of the washed out paint over the newspaper and music. The main focal point is the guitar structure, but I want to make sure the background is rich with texture and content.

Thanks so much for following my project! What did you like best about this article? The pictures? The description? The different experiments/processes? Please tell me, I write these articles for you!

Retune Nashville: Behind The Art (Part 1)

Last night I found out that all the Retune Nashville projects are due in two weeks. For some reason I didn't get that memo and now I'm freaking out. For the next two weeks I will work on making this very ambitious project come to life -- and you will be along for the ride!

This project is bigger than anything I've ever done before and it involves a lot of different processes, but I'm going for it. Here’s my idea:

I have two flood damaged acoustic guitars, all in pieces. I am going to arrange the pieces onto a 40x40 wood panel. The wood panel will be collaged with newspaper and magazine articles I collected from the flood. So basically it's a mixed media 3D wall sculpture. Lastly I want to install guitar strings and a battery powered amp so that it will function musically as well as visually.

My biggest concern is: How do I turn something that is stressing me out into something fun? How do I simplify? My answer is bleach. Let me explain:

I’ve almost finished building the 40x40 wooden panel so my next step is to create the paper collage. I want it to be a mess of articles with controlled movement, randomness, action and fluidity. To achieve this I am going to use a bleaching technique. I have this very clear vision I my mind, but I will have to practice using the bleach tonight and tomorrow before I apply it to the final project. I'm thinking sponge dipped in a bleach solution with a squeezed/pour/drip action over the newsprint flood articles. This is where the fun part comes in, there’s nothing I love more than experimenting.

The next step is to get organized so here is my two week plan:

Friday 9/10: Finish building wooden panel and practice bleaching techniques.
Saturday 9/11: Prime wooden frame, continue practicing bleaching techniques.
Sunday 9/12: Collage newsprint Nashville flood articles on primed panel.
Monday - Friday 9/13 - 9/17: Finish collage and apply bleaching techniques to the collaged panel.
Saturday 9/18: Install flood damaged guitar parts on panel to create the 3-D wall structure.
Monday – Friday 9/20 - 9/24: Install playable guitar strings on the panel and complete project.
Saturday 9/25: Deliver completed art to Retune Nashville.

Photography and video will be taken along the way during the next two weeks while I create this piece, so stay tuned and tell your friends.

Learn more about Retune Nashville at: http://www.retunenashville.org/. Tickets are now on sale!

Nashville’s Tomato Art: Local and Organic

For the 2010 Tomato Art Festival I wanted to create a piece of work that reflected how passionate I am about organic food. In 2009 I went through some major health issues that lead me to reevaluate my entire diet. After many trips to the doctor and hospital (with no solution) I was at a complete loss.

I decided to take matters into my own hands and figure out how to make myself well. Luckily a book called, The Maker’s Diet crossed my path and I realized I was sick because of my diet. It infuriates me that not even one doctor told me to try changing my diet to get well, because that was the miracle cure!

After a lot of research and education I realized that harmful food additives, especially sugar substitutes were making me sick. In January 2010 I decided to go organic. It wasn’t easy at first, but with trial and error I have found a diet I can stick with that keeps me very healthy.

The artwork I created is a list of the most harmful food additive ingredients with the letters, EAT ORGANIC FOODS highlighted in red from the text. It is graphic word art inspired by my life story.

The idea didn’t occur to me until after I watched the movie, Super Size Me a few weeks ago. It awakened my frustration with the food industry in America and is proof of how harmful manufactured foods are to the human body. I truly believe if more people decided to eat whole foods then we wouldn’t have so many health problems today.

If you are suffering from something similar please email me at beth@binglishART.com and I will share more of my story with you to try and help. If you have any advice on eating organic foods please share and leave a comment.

Don't miss seeing this artwork in person at The Tomato Art Festival: Saturday, August 14th at Art and Invention Gallery in East Nashville.

Auguste Rodin's "The Thinker" Gone Country

American Thinker, 38x25, Mixed Media Fabric

I don't know if it's the summer heat, post-flood water or the hot chicken, but everyone's gone country! Even Rodin's most famous statue, "The Thinker" has traded his bronze in for Fruit of the Loom tighty whities.

This binglishART creation will debut at the "In The Nude" juried art competition located at Billups Art during ArtEast June 26th from 6-9 PM.

This piece was inspired by London artist, Ann Carrington, as seen on Bravo's TV show 9 by Design and the art show theme "In The Nude." I knew I wanted to create something that wasn't normal and completely off the wall. I also knew I wasn't going to showcase a full on nude art piece so I had to think outside of the box. I have a quirky sense of humor and decided to use white briefs, because if you're not wearing them, than you are in the nude! It all seemed to come together after that.

You are invited to meet "American Thinker" and my female inspired panty art "Miss Pretty" at ArtEast on Saturday June 26th. For event details and information go to my event page on Facebook!

How To Collect Art :: Buy What You Like

When I ask the question, “Do you collect art?” the top two answers I get are:

1. No, I don’t know anything about collecting art.
2. No, I can’t afford it.

Thank goodness I’m here today to break the cycle of the non-art collector. Yes you do know about collecting art because everyone knows what they like and yes you can afford it because all art isn’t expensive.

First of all collecting art is really fun. It’s not at all like action figures, coins or baseball cards. It’s not the type of collection that sits in a box in the closet for no one to see. It’s on your walls and brings you joy every single day. It represents a bookmark of your life and reminds you when and why you bought it.

My First Art Collection

So what if the first piece you buy cost $25 at an estate sale, the more you collect the more defined your tastes will become. The most important factor is that you are purchasing work that makes you happy. Happiness comes from the inside and there is no right or wrong way to go about finding it. Consider collecting art a treasure hunt and everywhere you go you’ll be looking for those pieces that reflect something true inside of you.

A great way to start collecting artwork is to attend local fairs and festivals. See what the artists in your community are creating. There’s a great chance you’ll find something that resonates with you when it’s local. If you have the time to dig try out estate sales, garage sales and even Goodwill. I mention Goodwill because there have been many stories of donations turning out to be fine works of art. Now of course this is extremely rare, but still fun to think of what you might find!

Once you’ve outgrown those types of venues try out your local galleries and gift shops. These stores typically carry established artists so the prices will be higher. Higher prices doesn’t mean you’ve entered into a scary art collectors world, all it means is that you can expect the artwork to be higher quality. That’s one thing I’ve learned as my artist career grows, the materials I use and my skills become better and better warranting a higher price.

I must warn you, once you start collecting it’s going to be hard to stop. Instead of saving up for a new dress and pair of shoes, you’ll be dreaming of an original piece by your favorite local artist.

binglishART Paints "We Are Nashville"

My latest painting, We Are Nashville was donated to the Nashville Scene to raise money for flood relief. It was on silent auction at Terrazzo during a party releasing their Summer Squared: Summer Guide 2010.

I made this painting especially for event because it was important to me to give something inspired by the flood for the flood. I used an existing painting and added tea dyed paper from sheet music by blues musician Elmore James, The Sky is Crying. I was able to include the lyrics, "The sky is crying, can't you see the tears roll down the street" and that made it even more special.

Social media has been so significant during the flood disaster from organizing relief, to showing support and sharing information with family and friends. Many facebookers and tweeters have been tagging their profile pictures, "We Are Nashville" and I wanted to replicate that element into the artwork. A HUGE thank you goes out to Jenny Matthews for the highest bid!

We Are Nashville, 18x24, Mixed Media

binglishART @ rebarcamp Nashville

FREE T-SHIRTS @ rebarcamp Nashville!

Thank you to the incredible Brian Copeland for asking me to design the rebarcamp Nashville T-shirts. They are completely free because Talbott Title & Escrow and WR Starkey Mortgage are amazing sponsors.

rebarcamp will be Wednesday, April 28th at Fifth and Main

For more information please visit the official website:

http://brian-copeland.com/rebarcampnashville/

Fine Art Prints For Sale by binglishART

My custom collage, Carambola, is now for sale. If you can't make it to the beauitful Carambola Beach Resort on St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, then bring it home to your living room. You can purchase this fine art print on my website at binglishART.com.

I created this custom collage while living in Frederiksted, St. Croix in 2007. I lived on the island for a year and made many collages that reflected my life there. The print will fit a standard size 11x14 frame and is printed with archival inks and paper.

Buy it now for only $28.00, binglishART.com